A look at some of the stories trending this weekend, October 27-30Catalonia announced their independence from Spain resulting in the dismissal of the region’s parliament in what is billed as Spain’s largest political crisis post Franco era. According to Reuters, several European countries, including France and Germany, and the United States also rejected the independence declaration and said they supported Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s efforts to preserve Spain’s unity. A new election will be held in Catalonia on Dec. 21.

For all of the hand-wringing in the West about big data and privacy, a fascinating read in WIRED as to how the Chinese government plans to launch its mandatory Social Credit System in 2020, which is currently voluntary. Good scores offer perks including a fast-tracked application to a coveted pan-European Schengen visa while bad scores can limit travel, education, and internet speeds. “I think the best way to understand the system is as a sort of bastard love child of a loyalty scheme,” Rogier Creemers, a post-doctoral scholar specializing in Chinese law and governance at the Van Vollenhoven Institute at Leiden University.

Filed under: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Alinea, a Michelin 3-star restaurant in Chicago, now offers clear pumpkin pie and most of the Internet can’t handle it. Myself included.

And finally, the World Series continues between the Houston Astros and LA Dodgers. Great read by the WSJ as to how the good folks of Texas are less than amused with the oft-referenced NASA mission phrase and Twitter account @UghHouston is devoted to chronicling offending uses of “Houston, we have a problem,” and chastising guilty parties to do better.